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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/28298049">Two Devils in the City of Angels</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Eledhwen/pseuds/Eledhwen'>Eledhwen</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Two Devils [3]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Daredevil (TV), Lucifer (TV)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Crossover, Gen, Murder Mystery, POV Multiple, Probably unnecessary sequel</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-12-24</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-03-20</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-11 01:00:51</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>6</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>16,207</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/28298049</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Eledhwen/pseuds/Eledhwen</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>There's a serial killer on the loose in LA, and the LAPD need an expert in vigilantes to catch him. Lucifer Morningstar thinks he knows just the guy ...</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Two Devils [3]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1658164</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>87</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>235</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Chapter 1</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Fair warning: this isn't finished, but maybe posting a bit of it is the impetus I need to finish it. Or at least continue it. And the world probably doesn't need another slightly bonkers Lucifer/Daredevil crossover, but it's a crazy world and it's Christmas, so here we go. Enjoy. Merry Christmas.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“It’s the fourth one in the last 10 days,” Ella said, straightening from where she was bent over the body.</p>
<p>“Same as the others?” Chloe asked.</p>
<p>Ella nodded. “Yeah. Gang tattoos, some coke in his pocket, empty waist holster. He’s a criminal, and now he’s dead.”</p>
<p>Chloe sighed. “And we’ve got no leads on the killer still. Great.” She glanced over at Lucifer, who had his hands in his pockets and was evidently disinterested in what he’d already written off as a ‘boring’ case. “Lucifer!” she said. “We need all the brains we have on this one.”</p>
<p>He shrugged, elegantly. “It’s obviously someone with a grudge against criminals. Undoubtedly the poor sods who are being shot are going straight to Hell, and so will the killer. Surely it’s open and shut, Detective.”</p>
<p>“Open, because we can’t find the killer,” Chloe said, “and we have zero leads.”</p>
<p>Lucifer took his hands out of his pockets and surveyed the scene. “You’d normally call someone with a grudge against criminals a vigilante, I suppose. So we need someone who knows how vigilantes think to help us track the killer down.”</p>
<p>Chloe considered this, and nodded. “I guess, but that type of person is in short supply.”</p>
<p>Taking his phone out, Lucifer raised his eyebrows at her. “Don’t be so pessimistic, Detective. I think I know just the person.”</p>
<p>He walked away, the phone to his ear, and Chloe shook her head. Of course the Devil knew a vigilante, it seemed all too obvious. She watched Lucifer talk – a short, intense conversation – and then he slipped the phone back into his breast pocket and came back to her.</p>
<p>“I hope I’ve got us the help we need,” he said.</p>
<p>“You <em>hope</em>?”</p>
<p>“Well, in this situation, it’s me asking for the favour,” Lucifer said, and a faint look of distaste crossed his face. “Most unusual.”</p>
<p>Chloe folded her arms and gave him a look. “Who is it?”</p>
<p>“Oh, you know him,” Lucifer said, cheerfully. “Matthew Murdock, from New York.”</p>
<p>“The, um, the blind lawyer guy?” Chloe asked, wondering why someone who was definitely a good lawyer but also definitely blind and also only admitted in New York would be helpful.</p>
<p>“He has knowledge of Daredevil, and the other New York vigilantes,” Lucifer said. Chloe parsed the sentence, and couldn’t help shaking the feeling that Lucifer was choosing his words carefully. “He’s acted for some of them in court,” her partner added, with more certainty.</p>
<p>“And you think he’ll be useful here?” Chloe said. “I’m not sure in what capacity we can argue that we need a New York defence attorney on this case, but I guess I’ll find some way to spin it. If he turns up.” She turned back to look at the body. “God only knows we need the help.”</p>
<p>Lucifer sighed and shook his head at her. “<em>He</em> definitely won’t be any use.”</p>
<p>* * *</p>
<p>Matt put the phone down thoughtfully, and listened to see if Foggy was in his office. He was, apparently going over his statement for a trial starting the following week.</p>
<p>Crossing the empty reception area, Matt tapped at the doorframe. “Hey, Fogs,” he said, fiddling with his tie. “Can I ask you something?”</p>
<p>Foggy put down papers with what sounded like a relieved sigh. “Sure, buddy, and if it’s ‘is it time for lunch’, the answer is definitely yes.”</p>
<p>Matt checked his watch. “Nearly time for lunch,” he said, “but no, that wasn’t the question. Um. This is going to sound weird. What would you say if I took a few days out?”</p>
<p>“I’d say hallelujah,” Foggy said. “You never take enough time out. Wait. Do you mean time out of this job, or time out of the other one?”</p>
<p>“Kind of both and kind of neither,” Matt returned. “More, time out of the city.” He rubbed at his temple. “Erm, Los Angeles.”</p>
<p>There was silence for a moment, and then Foggy said, “I’m literally staring at you speechless right now, Matty. We only got you to Long Beach last year. And now you want to fly to Los Angeles?”</p>
<p>“I don’t know if I want to,” Matt objected. “Or even if I should. But I don’t know if I should say no to the guy who asked me.”</p>
<p>Foggy stood up with a scraping of his chair. “Right, lunch, now.”</p>
<p>They got subs from the deli, and took them to the nearby park. “Explain,” commanded Foggy, waving his sub in Matt’s direction; there was a waft of pickle.</p>
<p>Matt picked at the corner of his sandwich. “There’s a serial killer on the loose in LA, I’m told, and they think the killings are being carried out by a vigilante.”</p>
<p>“Who’s they?” Foggy asked, around a mouthful of his sub.</p>
<p>“The police,” said Matt. “And, um, the Devil.”</p>
<p>Foggy spluttered, coughed, and swallowed his mouthful. “I’m sorry what?” he said.</p>
<p>“A few years ago,” Matt said, putting his sub on the bench next to him, “this guy came to see me. When I had the red suit. Said his name was Lucifer Morningstar. Suggested I should stop using the name. And that he was the real thing.”</p>
<p>“I hate to say it, Matty,” said Foggy, “but I’m not sure the Devil is a thing.”</p>
<p>“Oh, he’s a thing,” Matt returned, remembering with a little shudder the stench of brimstone. “He came back, last year – remember we had that client who was suspected of involvement in an LA murder? He – Lucifer, I mean – he works with the LAPD, turned up to interview our client along with his partner.”</p>
<p>Foggy stopped eating, which was enough to tell Matt his mood. “Matt, the Devil’s not real, and if he was, why would he be working with the LAPD?”</p>
<p>“He says he’s on vacation,” Matt said, and found himself smiling. “Okay, that does sound stupid. But you gotta believe me, Fogs. We live in a world where there’s aliens, and dinosaur bones buried under Manhattan. Why not believe that the Devil exists too?”</p>
<p>“A valid argument, counsellor,” said Foggy. “But why go? Why’s he asking you?”</p>
<p>“I guess he thinks I could help track down this vigilante,” Matt said. “I’ve sort of got precedent, with Castle.”</p>
<p>“Do you want to go?”</p>
<p>Matt picked up his sub, and bit off the end while he thought. “I’m kind of terrified of the flight,” he admitted, after swallowing.</p>
<p>“Take sleeping pills,” Foggy advised, wisely. “It’s what most people do.”</p>
<p>“I hate sleeping pills,” objected Matt. He’d tried them, once or twice when the world got too loud, but always ended up having a kind of half-sleep and waking up with a mouth full of cotton wool.</p>
<p>“Is the flight the thing you’re most scared of?” Foggy asked. “Or the … this Lucifer guy? I mean the Devil’s supposed to be evil incarnate, right?”</p>
<p>Matt nodded. “But he says that’s just the Bible and misinterpretation,” he said. “And honestly, I believe him. Wilson Fisk was far more evil. It’s more that I just feel like it would be stupid to piss him off.” He reflected a moment. “And also, if there’s someone out there murdering in the name of vigilantism, I’d like to stop him.”</p>
<p>Finishing his sandwich, Foggy balled up the wrapper and aimed it at a nearby trashcan. It fell short, and he grunted in annoyance and got up to fetch the ball and pass it to Matt. Matt took it with a grin and lobbed it accurately into the bin.</p>
<p>“Then go,” Foggy said, sitting down again. “Karen and I can deal with cases while you’re gone. Might do you good, to get out of New York.”</p>
<p>“Yeah.” Matt took a deep breath. “Okay, yeah, I’ll go.” He fished his phone from his pocket and said to it, “New message to Lucifer Morningstar. Will come. Will send flight details when I have them. End message. Send.”</p>
<p>The phone bleeped to tell him the message had gone off successfully, and then barely 30 seconds later, bleeped again.</p>
<p>“New message from Lucifer Morningstar,” it said. “Car will pick you up from your apartment at 1800 hours, flight from Teterboro 1930. I will meet you in LA. Devil-face emoji. Message ends.”</p>
<p>Foggy seized the phone. “He really has used a devil-face emoji,” he said, in amazement. “Also, Teterboro? That means a private jet, Matty. Maybe it won’t be so bad after all.”</p>
<p>The car Lucifer had ordered arrived precisely on time outside Matt’s apartment. It smelt strongly of cleaning products and Matt cracked the window a little as he was whisked efficiently off Manhattan island and towards the airport.</p>
<p>Once there, helpful staff insisted on carrying his bag for him, which made him a little nervous – he’d left his batons behind, but the bag included his heavy boots, ropes and, rolled into a pair of socks, his mask. He hoped nobody would search it, but the helpful lady carrying it just put it straight through a metal detector and picked it up again.</p>
<p>Matt followed her, using his cane a touch more than he needed to, along an echoing corridor and out on to tarmac. There, for appearances’ sakes, he took the woman’s elbow as they crossed towards the plane.</p>
<p>The smell of gasoline was strong in the air and he held his breath as much as possible until he was safely up the steps and inside the plane. There, the gasoline smell diminished, but was replaced by artificial air, more cleaning products, and leather; he discovered on sitting down that the leather smell came from the seats.</p>
<p>After a little fumbling, Matt fastened the seatbelt and wondered what happened next. It turned out that next was the attendant asking him if he wanted a drink, and soon after delivering a glass of whiskey.</p>
<p>“We’ll be in the air in just a short while,” she told him. “If you need anything, there’s a call button just on your left. The flight’s about six hours so sit back and relax.”</p>
<p>“Thanks,” Matt said, his heart sinking, and wondering how he was going to get through the time.</p>
<p>“Oh,” the attendant added, passing a plastic-wrapped bundle to him, “Mr Morningstar said you might find these helpful.”</p>
<p>She walked away down the aisle and Matt opened the wrapping of the object he was holding. It turned out to be a pair of what felt like headphones. He was about to try them on when the pilot started the engines of the plane; the vibration ran straight through Matt’s body and the noise was deafening.</p>
<p>Amid the cacophony, he felt his phone vibrate in his pocket. It was another message from Lucifer, telling him to put the headphones on, and turn on Bluetooth. Matt sighed to himself and obeyed the message.</p>
<p>The headphones, it turned out, were noise-cancelling. For Matt, that did not actually mean noise-cancelling, but at least it dulled the sound of the engines somewhat. He scrolled through the audiobooks on his phone and pressed play, had a gulp of whiskey, and tried to focus on the words in his ear rather than the rumbling of the plane.</p>
<p>He had to pause the book for a few minutes during take-off, as the plane accelerated and then lifted into the air. Matt found himself gripping the arms of his seat as the ground dropped away. His ears felt blocked and painful and the world was muffled for a few minutes, until he worked out how to equalise the pressure.</p>
<p>The sound of the engines was less intrusive now, and Matt found he could turn on the audiobook again and not think too much about the fact that he was thousands of feet in the air.</p>
<p>He was an hour into the book when the attendant appeared again, the subtle scent of her perfume cutting through the artificial air. Matt was about to pause his book when she tapped him, hesitantly, on the arm, and he remembered that he shouldn’t have noticed her arrival, given the fact he was wearing noise-cancelling headphones. He paused the book anyway and slipped the headphones off.</p>
<p>“I’m sorry to disturb you, Mr Murdock, but wanted to ask you if you were hungry?” she asked. “I have a lasagne, or there’s a chicken and wine casserole.”</p>
<p>Matt wasn’t especially hungry, but he said he’d have lasagne. He put the book back on while the attendant bustled back and forth, setting out a placemat and silverware on the table in front of him, bringing him water, and eventually reappearing with a plate of lasagne, salad and bread. She tapped his arm again and he obediently took off the headphones once more.</p>
<p>“Bread at two o’clock, salad at ten, lasagne at six,” the attendant said brightly. “Enjoy!”</p>
<p>Matt thanked her and picked up his fork, and took a careful bite of the lasagne. He chewed, and swallowed, and put down the fork again. The meal was somehow bland yet salty at the same time, as though salt was the only flavour left in it.</p>
<p>He ate the bread, and the salad, which were both largely tasteless, and pushed the rest of the lasagne away. That meant he then had to apologise for not eating it when the attendant came back to clear the table, but she was unerringly polite about it and seemed to be genuine.</p>
<p>Matt listened to another half an hour of his book before turning it off and getting up to walk, carefully, about the cabin. He did some stretches and wished he was wearing something more comfortable than a suit, and then found his way back to the seat and turned on the audiobook again.</p>
<p>Time passed slowly. He listened to the book, and stretched, and walked, and listened some more. Every now and then the attendant came along to check on him, brought him another drink, and kept him up to date with their progress.</p>
<p>After what seemed like days, she arrived again to take away his empty glass and ask him to buckle in. “We’re on the descent now,” she said. “Have a mint to suck, it helps to equalise your ears.”</p>
<p>Matt took three, and found they did help with the pressure in his eardrums, but not with the stomach-churning terror he felt as the plane approached the ground and, with a bump, landed. But, apparently, he had survived, and he dictated a quick text to Foggy to tell him as much. Outside the door was a new state, and a mystery to crack.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Chapter 2</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>
  <i>Lux was quiet in the morning, with only the cleaners busy in the main bar. Chloe said hi to the staff she saw on her way up to the penthouse, and wondered again just why Lucifer had asked Matthew Murdock to help on the case. If they hadn’t been so stuck, and if she hadn’t come to trust her partner’s instincts, she’d have vetoed the idea – but, truthfully, they were stuck and fresh eyes could be helpful.</i>
</p><p> </p><p>  <i>She punched the button for the elevator and revised that thought. A fresh mind, perhaps, and there was no doubting that Murdock had a good brain.</i></p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Thank you for the kudos and comments on chapter 1. At least I know my desire for cracky crossovers is shared! </p><p>Should have noted in the first chapter of this: rough setting is well post-S3 of DD, early S4 of Lucifer, if you care about spoilers.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Lucifer leaned on the bonnet of the Corvette and watched as the jet taxied to a halt. It was a balmy evening; perfect for a drive in a convertible, he reflected.</p><p>It took the groundcrew a short time to get the steps into place and the door opened, and then the flight attendant – Suzanne, Lucifer remembered fondly, with a penchant for strawberries – emerged carrying a holdall. Matthew Murdock followed her, negotiating his way with relative ease down the steep steps.</p><p>Suzanne brought the bag to the car with a bright smile. “Mr Morningstar,” she said, “it’s great to see you. Here’s Mr Murdock’s luggage.”</p><p>“Thank you for taking care of him,” Lucifer said.</p><p>“A pleasure,” Suzanne said, and turned to Murdock. “Hope you have a good stay in LA, Mr Murdock.”</p><p>“Thanks,” Murdock said, with a smile that made Suzanne beam a bit wider. Lucifer watched her walk away with pleasure, and then turned to his guest.</p><p>“Welcome to LA,” he said. “How was the flight?”</p><p>With the smile dimmed, Murdock looked tired and a bit on edge. “Manageable,” he said, folding up his cane. “Thanks for the headphones. They helped.”</p><p>Lucifer opened the driver’s door of the car and got in, and Murdock found the passenger door and followed suit. “No point in asking you here if you were unable to do anything when you arrived,” he said. He started the car, and accelerated smoothly off the airport tarmac and on to the freeway. “Okay with the top down?”</p><p>“Yeah.” Murdock had his head back. “The air … it smells different from New York.”</p><p>“First time in LA?” Lucifer asked.</p><p>“First time anywhere,” said Murdock. “My dad … we didn’t have money for travelling, when I was a kid. And since then,” he waved a hand, generally, at his face, “New York just felt safer, I guess.”</p><p>Lucifer overtook a truck. “So why are you here?” he asked.</p><p>“You asked me,” Murdock said, “and my best friend persuaded me to, well, broaden my horizons, I suppose. He’s always trying to get me to take time off.” He fiddled with his red glasses. “I’m not very good at taking time off.”</p><p>Glancing over at his passenger, Lucifer got the feeling that wasn’t everything. “And?” he said.</p><p>Still with his head tilted back, Murdock said, “and I thought I shouldn’t say no to you.” He hesitated a moment. “Also, I don’t want someone going around murdering people because they think that’s vigilante justice.”</p><p>“What did you think would happen if you’d said no?” Lucifer asked, genuinely interested.</p><p>“I’ve no idea,” Murdock said, “but being brought up in a Catholic orphanage tends to make you respectful, at least, of divine beings.”</p><p>Lucifer laughed at that, although he realised Murdock was entirely serious. “I wish I could introduce you to some of my siblings,” he said, “and then maybe you’d lose that respect. Most of them are self-absorbed prats.”</p><p>Murdock looked faintly scandalised, or possibly terrified – Lucifer wasn’t sure which. He took the turning off the freeway, and headed towards Lux and the luxury hotel opposite it, where he’d booked a room for Murdock.</p><p>“I guess the LAPD aren’t paying for this?” Murdock asked, once he’d been checked in and they’d found his room on the 10th floor.</p><p>“If the LAPD was paying you’d be in some ratty motel,” Lucifer said, watching the lawyer run his hand over the bedspread. “Don’t worry about it. I have plenty.”</p><p>Murdock inclined his head a little. “I won’t ask how.”</p><p>“Compound interest over centuries, mostly,” said Lucifer, breezily. “Do call room service if you’re hungry. I’ll meet you in the lobby at eight tomorrow – the Detective is going to come to my place to discuss the case and how you can help.”</p><p>He left Murdock unpacking his small bag, and headed back to Lux for the rest of the night.</p><p>* * *</p><p>Lux was quiet in the morning, with only the cleaners busy in the main bar. Chloe said hi to the staff she saw on her way up to the penthouse, and wondered again just why Lucifer had asked Matthew Murdock to help on the case. If they hadn’t been so stuck, and if she hadn’t come to trust her partner’s instincts, she’d have vetoed the idea – but, truthfully, they were stuck and fresh eyes could be helpful.</p><p>She punched the button for the elevator and revised that thought. A fresh mind, perhaps, and there was no doubting that Murdock had a good brain.</p><p>The doors slid open and Chloe came into the penthouse. The morning sun shone bright through the windows, and she could see Lucifer and Murdock standing on the balcony. She thought that Murdock turned first as she put down her files on top of the piano, but they came back inside together.</p><p>“Detective!” said Lucifer, and crossed the floor towards her, his arms wide in welcome. Murdock hung back, his face inscrutable behind the red shades.</p><p>“Morning,” Chloe said. “Good morning, Mr Murdock.”</p><p>“Matt, please,” the lawyer said, “if we’re going to be working together.”</p><p>“Chloe, then,” Chloe agreed. “Nice to see you again.”</p><p>He flashed a sudden smile. “Nice to see you too.”</p><p>Chloe wasn’t sure what to respond to that, so she opened up the files. “I’m going to have to talk you through most of these,” she said. “I couldn’t get them printed in Braille.”</p><p>“That’s okay, I’m used to it,” Matt Murdock said. He fiddled with his tie. “Detective Decker – Chloe – I guess you’re wondering why Mr Morningstar asked me here for this case.”</p><p>She paused in flicking through papers. “Yeah, I kind of was. Lucifer says you’ve acted for some of the New York vigilantes – the Punisher, right, and Daredevil?”</p><p>Matt looked distinctly uncomfortable.</p><p>“Um,” he said.</p><p>“The Detective won’t judge,” Lucifer put in, with one of his fond smiles at Chloe. “Trust me, she dealt with a certain Devilish revelation rather well.”</p><p>“If running away to Europe and then plotting to kill you is rather well,” Chloe said, and she still felt guilty about it. Then she realised what Lucifer had said. “Wait, Lucifer, he knows about you?”</p><p>“Yes,” Lucifer said.</p><p>Chloe stared at both of them. “I mean I know you tell everyone, but he actually believes you?”</p><p>“He showed me,” Matt put in, and Chloe realised she’d been talking as though he wasn’t in the room. “So you know too. I don’t think you did, when you came to New York.”</p><p>Chloe shook her head, and then said, “no, I didn’t. It’s been a crazy couple of years.”</p><p>Matt’s mouth twitched. “I’ve had those.” He took a deep breath. “I, um, I don’t just represent vigilantes, though my firm did represent Frank Castle. Not very successfully, as you may have read. So that’s not really why I’m here.”</p><p>He paused again, and almost-but-not-quite looked straight at Chloe. Even with the shades on, it was a disconcertingly direct glance and Chloe felt like she was under a spotlight, somehow.</p><p>“Can I trust you?” Matt asked. “To help you, I need to know I can trust you.”</p><p>Lucifer’s stance stiffened minutely, and he said, “of course you can trust the Detective, Mr Murdock.”</p><p>“It depends what with,” Chloe said, raising her eyebrows in Lucifer’s direction. He crossed to the bar and poured himself a drink, deflecting. She looked back at Matt. “Look, if it’s about something related to New York, I have no jurisdiction there, you know that. And G… heck knows I’ve got used to keeping people’s secrets since knowing Lucifer. My partner’s the Devil and my old roommate’s a demon, it can’t get much weirder than that.”</p><p>She sat down. “So spill.”</p><p>Matt hesitated a moment longer, his attention still on her, and then he nodded sharply and sat down opposite her, elbows resting on knees. “I’m Daredevil,” he said, simply, and waited.</p><p>There was silence for a moment, broken by the gentle chink as Lucifer put his glass down on the bar and refilled it.</p><p>“But …” Chloe began, and stopped talking.</p><p>“But I’m blind, right?” Matt said, with that little smile again. “Yeah. There are more ways to see than with your eyes.”</p><p>Chloe thought back to the trip to New York, and the brief, hurried moments when she and Lucifer were mugged and rescued by a shadow in black. “You’re blind, you’re an attorney, and you’re Daredevil.”</p><p>Matt shrugged, looking more like a harmless attorney than a vigilante. “Yeah. Unlike your perp, though, I don’t kill. But I might be able to track him down if I get a sense of where he might be.”</p><p>Standing up, Chloe went over to the files and brought them back to the low table between the sofas. She was pretty sure there was still a lot more to Matt Murdock than he’d confided, but there was a case to solve.</p><p>* * *</p><p>Standing on the penthouse balcony had been intense. Matt had been up high so many times, but the Hell’s Kitchen rooftops still gave the sense of being part of the city. Here, for some reason, he felt distanced from the polluted sprawl of Los Angeles below.</p><p>He heard the elevator before it arrived, and as the doors opened realised it was Lucifer’s detective arriving. But he waited to follow his host back inside. The detective, as in New York, sounded calm and collected, the scent of her toiletries clean and minimal. She handled his admittedly weak blind joke by mostly avoiding it, moving swiftly on to business.</p><p>Matt knew he’d have to tell her the real reason Lucifer had called him, and he thought he’d rather get it over with. She was clearly surprised he knew Lucifer’s true nature, but he couldn’t get much of a read on her apart from that. So he steeled himself, and told her the truth.</p><p>Chloe took it well. Too well, Matt thought, as she started working through the evidence they’d collected, and he suspected there would be more questions later. For now, he turned on his voice recorder to take notes, and wished he knew Los Angeles at all. Chloe did most of the talking, interrupted occasionally by an aside from Lucifer – who must have got through at least four whiskeys, but seemed none the worse for it – and Matt asked the occasional question.</p><p>He thought he was building up a bit of a picture of what their target was like when Chloe’s phone rang.</p><p>“Decker,” she said, answering. “Hey, Ella.”</p><p>Matt heard a woman’s voice on the other end, bright and sunny. “Chlo. We got another one. Westmont.”</p><p>“Text me the address,” Chloe said. “We’re on our way. Thanks, Ella.”</p><p>She hung up. “Another body,” she said.</p><p>Matt had already turned off his voice recorder; he sensed Chloe looking at him. “I heard,” he said simply. “How far’s Westmont?”</p><p>“Not too far,” Chloe said. “Wait, you heard what Ella said?”</p><p>“I have good hearing,” Matt replied. “Or, well, kind of off-the-charts good, I guess.”</p><p>She gathered the files together. “That’s how you do what you do?”</p><p>“Part of it,” Matt agreed.</p><p>“Great,” said Chloe. “I’m solving crimes with the Devil and Daredevil. My life can’t get weirder.”</p><p>Lucifer swallowed the last of his drink, put the glass down, and said, “shall we? My car?”</p><p>“My car,” Chloe said, firmly.</p><p>Even the roads were different from New York, Matt thought as they sped towards the body. Chloe had avoided using the siren out of consideration for his ears, so he was able to listen to the city outside. It was a constant stream of traffic, but lacking the rumble of the subway he was used to.</p><p>He snapped his cane open as they got out of the car, and stayed close behind Chloe and Lucifer. There were a lot of people around; Matt guessed police. He followed the detective inside a building, heavy with the iron-rich scent of blood.</p><p>Someone was taking photographs, but stopped as they came into the room. “Chlo! Lucifer!” she said. Matt recognised the voice: this was the Ella who had called earlier.</p><p>“Hey, Ella,” Chloe said, and the two women hugged briefly. “Ella, this is Matt Murdock. He’s, um, got experience of vigilantes. I’ve brought him into consult on this case.”</p><p>Matt found himself enveloped in a brief, warm hug by a small, lithe woman whose hair under his nose smelt of camomile shampoo. “Um. Hi,” he said, extricating himself after a moment.</p><p>“Ella does forensics,” Chloe explained. “Tell us what we got, Ella.”</p><p>There was a brief pause. “Male, African-American, about 35,” Ella said. “Couple of tattoos. He’s been strangled.”</p><p>“Manually?” asked Matt.</p><p>“Yeah,” Ella said, “and by someone with big hands. But there was a fight beforehand – he’s got bruises on his face, his nose is broken, and I think he’s got a few broken ribs. This was violent, Chlo, personal.”</p><p>“May I, um, see?” Matt said.</p><p>“Has the body been dusted for fingerprints?” Chloe asked.</p><p>Ella stood up, and from her pocket pulled out a pair of latex gloves, smelling of talcum powder. She passed them to Matt. “Yeah, but I’d still prefer you to put these on.”</p><p>Matt took them, feeling the rubbery silkiness of the gloves between his fingers. He wasn’t sure he’d be able to feel everything he needed to with them on, but as a gesture he put them on and bent down to the body.</p><p>The dead skin was cold and unpleasant, even through the latex. Carefully, Matt ran his hands over the man’s ribs, feeling the minute cracks in the bones. “Seven broken ribs,” he said. He moved his hands up to the face and felt the nose, which was indeed broken in several places. It had been a hard, skilled hit.</p><p>He felt around the face and neck but couldn’t get anything else, so stood up and snapped the gloves off. “I think we’re looking for someone with training,” he said. “A boxer, or possibly a martial arts expert, but I’d guess a boxer.”</p><p>“A boxer with big hands,” Chloe said, thoughtfully. “It doesn’t narrow it down a lot.”</p><p>“It’s more than we’ve had so far,” Ella pointed out. Matt got the sense the forensic scientist was studying him, and probably had questions. “And we can try and track down the tatts, too, work out where he got them done.”</p><p>“Could they be prison tattoos?” Matt suggested.</p><p>Chloe moved closer. “Possibly. We’ll check them all out. This one, Ella, possibly.”</p><p>There was the click of a camera as Ella recorded the tattoos.</p><p>“Okay, I think we’ve got enough,” Chloe said. “I need to interview the neighbours. Matt, do you mind waiting in the car?”</p><p>Matt shook his head, and Chloe put her car keys in his hand. “Will you be able to find it?” she asked.</p><p>“Yeah,” he said. “And if not I’ll ask someone.”</p><p>“I can get Lucifer to go with you …” she started, but Matt held up the keys.</p><p>“I’m good. Go and do your interviews,” he said.</p><p>She touched his arm briefly, and moved off, Lucifer following her. Matt made his way out of the house and under the police cordon, where he pressed the button that would open the car and followed his ears to the resulting beep. He settled into the passenger seat and, after a few moments’ trial and error, succeeded in turning the engine on and winding down his window.</p><p>Focusing, he could hear Chloe and Lucifer talking to someone in the house, and he kept listening as they moved from witness to witness. The detective was doing most of the talking – sometimes sympathetic, sometimes tough, and with his advocate’s hat on Matt could appreciate the change in tone she used. Lucifer said little, occasionally cutting in with a comment, but with a couple of the witnesses he took over entirely for a few moments, asking them what they truly desired.</p><p>Matt remembered the Devil trying that with him, and the reaction when nothing had happened. He resolved, this time, to ask Lucifer more about whatever skill – or magic trick – it was that he did.</p><p>His phone beeped at him, and told him he had a text from Foggy. Matt swiped at it and the message played. “Matty, buddy, checking in, hope all okay in LA. We got a date for Mrs Henderson’s case, in two weeks, so you better get back in one piece.”</p><p>Matt smiled to himself, and dictated a reply. “LA fine, bit polluted, staying in lap of luxury, all well,” he said. “Send message.”</p><p>He refocused on what was happening outside. Chloe and Lucifer were discussing whether they had enough witnesses; Ella was discussing tattoos with a colleague. Matt tuned them out and cast his ears idly around the rest of the area – cops talking about basketball, someone on the phone to his wife.</p><p>And then he heard something that made him sit up a bit, frowning in concentration.</p><p>“Man, the whole town’s runnin’ scared,” someone said, quietly but not quietly enough, and not far away. “Like, who’s goin’ to be next, you know?”</p><p>“It’s all about the drugs,” someone else said. “Have a fight over a chick, fine, but this guy don’t like anyone dealing on his turf.”</p><p>“What’s it got to do with him, anyway?” the first voice said, angrily.</p><p>Matt wound up his window, opened his door, and reached for the car keys to turn the engine off. Getting out, he tried to locate the speakers.</p><p>“He got a history with drugs,” the second speaker said. “Look, few of us, think we’d be safer in numbers. Gonna meet, tonight, Cobra Club.”</p><p>“What if he finds us there?” the first man worried.</p><p>Matt turned, and walked towards the voices.</p><p>“He won’t. See you there.” There was a pause, and the put-put-roar of a motorbike engine starting up. Matt quickened his pace a little, but the motorbike was off, and a moment later, a car door slammed and a car drove away in the opposite direction.</p><p>Matt swore.</p><p>“Language!” said Lucifer, coming up behind him and startling him. Matt swung around, his hand automatically coming up in a block, before he relaxed and let it drop.</p><p>“I think I heard something useful,” he said.</p><p>Chloe was close behind her partner, and they listened as Matt repeated the conversation.</p><p>“I don’t understand how you heard all that,” Chloe said, when he’d finished, “but I think you might have got us our first decent lead. Come on, we’ve got plenty to work on back at the station. I’ll clear you being there with the lieutenant somehow, Matt; I got a feeling we need you on this.”</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Chapter 3</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>
  <i>Lucifer watched with pride as Chloe’s stubbornness and Matt’s charm got him a visitor’s pass and a sanctioned, if unofficial, place on the case as an expert consultant. He decided he was enjoying having someone else along for the ride, someone who wouldn’t disrupt his partnership with the Detective, but who shook things up a bit. And he’d already been useful to the case. Lucifer was looking forward immensely to seeing what the night would bring.</i>
</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Slowish update, sorry. The good news is I've got another chapter's worth written, so progression is happening.</p>
<p>Lots of talk in this chapter. Maybe not much action. Action will happen at some stage ...</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Lucifer watched with pride as Chloe’s stubbornness and Matt’s charm got him a visitor’s pass and a sanctioned, if unofficial, place on the case as an expert consultant. He decided he was enjoying having someone else along for the ride, someone who wouldn’t disrupt his partnership with the Detective, but who shook things up a bit. And he’d already been useful to the case. Lucifer was looking forward immensely to seeing what the night would bring.</p>
<p>For the moment, they were all camped out in the conference room, going through documents and records to try and connect the dots better between their five victims. Matt had apologised for being unable to help, as he had left his laptop and Braille reader at the hotel.</p>
<p>It had taken Lucifer a matter of moments to order a courier to collect the items from Matt’s hotel room, and less than half an hour later he was set up and able to join in reading through documents and searching online. As he got going they all watched, fascinated, as the lawyer’s fingers ran over the reader, the little dots appearing and vanishing swiftly as he moved from line to line.</p>
<p>“You’re all watching me,” Matt said, after a moment.</p>
<p>“Sorry,” Chloe said, turning to her own tasks.</p>
<p>Lucifer, lounging against the wall, kept watching, and Matt paused. “You’re still watching me,” he said.</p>
<p>“How can you tell?” Lucifer asked.</p>
<p>Matt’s shoulders tensed a little. “You’re just very … present.”</p>
<p>“I’ll say!” put in Ella, cheerfully. “Lucifer always fills a room.”</p>
<p>“Sit down and do some work,” Chloe told him, turning around from her own laptop. “At least find out who owns this Cobra Club. Surely that’s right up your alley?”</p>
<p>Lucifer un-lounged from the wall and took the seat next to her, pulling the spare laptop towards him. “Very well, Detective,” he conceded.</p>
<p>As it happened the information proved fairly easy to uncover, through property records; the club, downtown, was owned by a man with a long scar on his cheek who came up in the LAPD database. “Two counts of assault with a firearm, three of drug possession, one of drug dealing,” Chloe said. “Matches your hypothesis this is about drugs, Matt.”</p>
<p>Matt nodded, his red-shaded eyes still tilted downwards towards the reader. “There’s a bunch of news reports about drugs and the other victims,” he said, “although I guess you already knew that, right? But I wonder – could our killer be someone who’s lost someone to drugs? He’s looking for revenge.”</p>
<p>“Ah, the old reliable,” Lucifer remarked, taking out his hipflask. “The cause of far too much human guilt over the millennia, I can assure you.”</p>
<p>“I’ve seen it,” agreed Matt. “Frank Castle – the Punisher – he was consumed by the need to avenge his family. Wasn’t really thinking about much else. Killed a lot of people in the process.”</p>
<p>He flexed his fingers before putting them back to the reader.</p>
<p>They pursued the hypothesis further – or at least Chloe, Ella and Matt did. Lucifer volunteered to go and buy lunch, knowing that if he did not the Detective and Ella would happily eat packaged snacks from the vending machine and drink the department’s appalling coffee. He had already seen Matt try the coffee and push his mug away with an expression of deep distaste.</p>
<p>The trip to pick up lunch, exchange a few words with the chef, and back took him a good 45 minutes, but they were all still tapping away at keyboards when he returned and the evidence board had a few more things on it. He put the bags of food down in the middle of the conference table with a flourish.</p>
<p>“Time for a break,” he said.</p>
<p>“What did you get?” Ella asked, but Matt had a small smile on his face, and Lucifer waited with interest to see what he would say.</p>
<p>“Korean,” Matt said. “Lots of kimchi. Pork stew. More kimchi. Fried chicken. Rice. Something with,” he breathed in, “tofu?”</p>
<p>“Spicy barbeque tofu, in fact,” said Lucifer, impressed despite himself, and opening the bags. He passed out food and they all dug in.</p>
<p>Ella was frowning in Matt’s direction. “I’ve heard that sometimes blind people compensate a bit with other senses,” she said, after swallowing a mouthful of tofu, “but man, being able to tell what’s in a bag of takeout before it’s opened?”</p>
<p>Matt busied himself with chopsticks, and Lucifer could see he was making an effort to be slightly awkward with them. “Erm. I can only speak for myself, I guess. Half of that was just luck. You can’t miss fried chicken and I didn’t think Mr Morningstar was a KFC type.”</p>
<p>“I certainly am not,” Lucifer agreed.</p>
<p>“It’s very good,” added Matt, deflecting from Ella’s comment. “There’s a couple of Korean places in Hell’s Kitchen – I should go to them more often. It’s too easy to always pick the Thai place on the corner.”</p>
<p>The conversation devolved into one about food, until they’d finished and were collecting the trash, and then Chloe brought it back to the case.</p>
<p>“We’ve probably done all the research we can here,” she said. “We need to start connecting the dots in the real world. Ella, can you get on the phone about the tattoos?”</p>
<p>Ella nodded, and got to her feet to gather her things together. “Sure thing, Chlo,” she said. “I’ll keep you updated.”</p>
<p>Once she had left the conference room, the Detective turned to Lucifer. “Good – I love Ella, but I hate the fact she’s in the dark about everything. And now with Matt, too. I was going to suggest that you two go to the Cobra Club this evening, hang out and see what you can pick up.”</p>
<p>“We can certainly do that, but it would be far more pleasurable with your company, Detective,” Lucifer said, leaning back in his chair and giving her his most encouraging look. Chloe frowned at him.</p>
<p>“I’ve got Trixie, and no, I can’t pass her off on Dan again,” she said. “My daughter,” she added, as an aside to Matt. “Besides, two guys, hanging out in a bar, nothing more normal.”</p>
<p>“Even us?” Matt said, with a grin. “Sure, I have no issues. If you have a cap I can borrow I can leave my glasses and cane behind, blend in better.”</p>
<p>“Blend in?” said Lucifer, put out. “The Devil doesn’t do blending.”</p>
<p>“He’s right, he doesn’t,” Chloe agreed, with a sigh, “but you at least have a name in LA, Lucifer. Yeah, I have a cap you can use, if it helps,” she added, to Matt. “Lucifer can take you by my place to grab it. In the closet drawer.”</p>
<p>Lucifer had a sense they were being dismissed, and he said so. Chloe gave him her exasperated look. “I need to do paperwork,” she said, “Matt needs to change, and I’m sure you have stuff to do at Lux. I’ll call later.”</p>
<p>“All right, Detective,” Lucifer conceded.</p>
<p>In the Corvette, Matt said, “are you guys, you know, together?”</p>
<p>Lucifer glanced sharply at him. “No,” he said. “We are friends. And partners – the Detective finds me useful to have around, I believe.”</p>
<p>“Hmm,” said Matt. “I think, perhaps, if you asked her …”</p>
<p>“We are partners,” Lucifer said, firmly, and putting a hint of authority in his voice.</p>
<p>They drove in silence until they reached the Detective’s apartment, where Lucifer got out, leaving Matt in the car. It took only moments to exert a little will, open her door and go in to find a cap. He picked a dark one – not that there was much choice – and he stood looking at the Detective’s neat, minimal closet for a moment before closing the door and going back to the Corvette.</p>
<p>At Matt’s hotel, they arranged to meet again at 7 and Lucifer left, feeling still slightly on edge somehow and determined to drink his way out of it until it was time to pick up again in the evening.</p>
<p>* * *</p>
<p>Matt caught up on his emails, meditated, showered and changed in the few hours he had alone, thinking about the day and the night ahead. He had almost, for a while, stopped thinking about Lucifer as the Devil and started thinking about him as a person. That had changed when he’d asked about Chloe – there had been something absolutely chilling in Lucifer’s voice, for a moment, and a tone that brooked no argument.</p>
<p>Matt was still pretty sure he was reading both of them correctly, and that he was right to think there could be, even should be, more between them, but that wasn’t why he was in LA, after all. There was a job to do, and he made sure he had stretched, slipped his batons in the inside pocket of his jacket, and was wearing his heavy boots by the time 7pm rolled around.</p>
<p>Lucifer was waiting again in the lobby, his movements still showing he was wearing another expensive suit.</p>
<p>“Won’t you kind of stick out a bit?” Matt asked, as they headed out to the car. “In your suit, I mean?”</p>
<p>“I have a reputation,” Lucifer said, lightly.</p>
<p>Matt adjusted the cap on his head. “I’ll try not to spoil it,” he said.</p>
<p>The Cobra Club was quite a way from the hotel and Lucifer’s place, in a quieter part of town. It seemed busy. Matt hoped Lucifer would be as subtle as he could be, although he wasn’t especially confident about the Devil’s ability to be inconspicuous.</p>
<p>“Can we get drinks and then find a spot where we can hang out and I can just listen to what’s going on?” he said, quietly, as they crossed the parking lot to the bar.</p>
<p>“Scotch?” Lucifer asked, which Matt guessed was assent.</p>
<p>“Beer,” Matt said.</p>
<p>They ordered at the crowded bar, where the barman clearly gave Lucifer a second glance – Matt supposed not many people frequented the place in designer suits. But the second glance wasn’t enough to stop them being served, and they took their glasses to a corner table.</p>
<p>“The guys I heard talking earlier were talking about a meeting of some kind,” Matt said. “Anyone look like they’re having a meeting, rather than just some drinks?”</p>
<p>Lucifer drained his Scotch. “Not yet,” he said.</p>
<p>“I’ll keep my ears open,” said Matt, sipping beer carefully. “This place reminds me of the bar we go to back in the Kitchen. Kind of homely. Maybe not quite sanitary.”</p>
<p>Lucifer made an assenting sort of noise.</p>
<p>Matt steeled himself. “While we’re waiting,” he said, “I wanted to ask you about the thing you do.”</p>
<p>“The thing I do?”</p>
<p>He could hear the slight leer in Lucifer’s voice, and raised his eyebrows in the Devil’s general direction. “Haha. The desire thing. You tried it on me, and it didn’t work, but I heard you doing it with some of the witnesses today.”</p>
<p>“What do you truly desire?” purred Lucifer, close to Matt’s face. Matt felt a buzz of power, but no compulsion to answer. He shrugged, and Lucifer pulled back with an annoyed grunt. “You and the Detective are the only people it’s never worked on,” he said. “She is unique. With you, it’s most certainly because you can’t actually see me.”</p>
<p>“The light of the body is the eye,” Matt quoted. “According to Saint Matthew, anyway, ironically.”</p>
<p>“A gift from my dear old Dad,” Lucifer said, and Matt felt a shiver up his spine at the casual mention of God from a fallen angel. “My talents are light, and desire. I make light, and I draw out desire. My siblings and I all have different gifts, and this is mine.”</p>
<p>Matt tried more beer; it truly was bad, worse than Josie’s. “What are the other gifts?” he asked, genuinely interested now.</p>
<p>There was a pause. “Amenadiel used to be able to slow time, but since he’s been here he appears to have lost that talent,” Lucifer said. Matt wondered who Amenadiel was, and what he was doing on Earth alongside Lucifer. It was not a name of any angel he remembered from scripture.</p>
<p>“Gabriel – those who hear his words know he’s telling absolute truth,” Lucifer continued. “Raphael’s a healer, not that there’s much cause for that in the Silver City, and he’s too much of a prick to come and use his skills where they might actually be needed. Azrael has the delightful job of escorting souls off the mortal plane. That sort of thing.”</p>
<p>Matt thought of the hours he had spent tracing the words of the Bible, and of Foggy laughing about the time he had played Gabriel in a Nativity play at elementary school. And here was one of Gabriel’s brothers casually talking about God-given gifts, in a dive bar in Los Angeles.</p>
<p>Lucifer excused himself, and went to the bar where Matt heard him briefly negotiate for a bottle of Scotch and return with it.</p>
<p>“Don’t you get drunk?” Matt asked, distracted from his earlier questions.</p>
<p>“Sadly, no,” Lucifer said, uncapping the bottle and pouring himself a generous measure with a slosh of liquid. “Celestial constitution. It takes …”</p>
<p>Matt tuned out, because he’d heard something across the room. He frowned, and turned his head to try and get a better lock on it. Lucifer stopped talking.</p>
<p>One of the men he’d heard in the morning had come into the bar, carrying a whiff of motor oil and weed with him. He got a bottle of beer and carried on towards the back of the room; a door opened, and he went through. The door closed.</p>
<p>“They’re in the back,” Matt said. “I can’t hear from here.” He pulled his cap a little further over his forehead, and without waiting for Lucifer headed out of the bar. Behind him, Lucifer grumbled, but followed. Matt sent him to the Corvette. “I’m better alone,” he pointed out.</p>
<p>“Celestial constitutions come with celestial invulnerability,” Lucifer said.</p>
<p>“I’m not planning on getting in a fight, if I can help it,” returned Matt. “I just need to hear what they’re saying.”</p>
<p>“Very well,” Lucifer said, and strolled off, Scotch in hand, getting out his cigarette case. Matt put him out of mind, and slid into the shadows by the edge of the building, straining his ears. He kept low under the windows and finally, around the back of the bar by the trash cans, he could hear what was going on. He kept his breathing shallow – the trash smelt horrific – and focused on the meeting.</p>
<p>There were six men in the room, three with guns, two with knives, one unarmed. They were already deep in discussion, and Matt listened and tried to commit their words to his memory, as best he could. He had a feeling Chloe would want as much detail as possible.</p>
<p>They spoke in generic terms to start with, about the friends they had lost, but then the conversation got more specific.</p>
<p>“Wasn’t my fault the kid got hooked,” one man complained. “Guy wants his daughter not to do drugs, he better take better care of her.”</p>
<p>“Girl was seventeen!” someone else said. “Not even really a kid any more.”</p>
<p>Matt, not moving an inch, prayed for a name.</p>
<p>“I told Jim that already,” the first said. “Told him I was sure cut up about his Kayleigh, but she ain’t hardly the first kid to take too much coke.”</p>
<p>“If he blames you, why the hell aren’t you dead already?” questioned another.</p>
<p>“Man, he blames us all!” said the unarmed man. “The whole gang, the distribution network. I vote we stay in groups, hang out at each other’s places, until the cops can catch him. I have no clue where he is.”</p>
<p>“Cops won’t catch him,” said one man. “If we don’t know where he is, how will they?”</p>
<p>There was silence. Someone shuffled his feet, and said, “we could call in a tip?”</p>
<p>“We ain’t going nowhere near the cops,” the first man said, decisively. “We handle ourselves. Me, you, you, round my place. The rest of you, Mike’s place. At some point, he has to come to us, and then it’s three to one.”</p>
<p>Chairs shifted, and it sounded like they were leaving. Matt decided he’d heard enough.</p>
<p>He got Lucifer to drive them a short distance from the bar before they called Chloe to update her with the news.</p>
<p>“We’re looking for a Jim, or a James,” Matt said. “Had a daughter called Kayleigh, seventeen, died of an overdose. Probably cocaine, or maybe more than just cocaine. One of his associates might be a Mike, or a Michael.”</p>
<p>“Good name for a reprobate,” Lucifer interjected.</p>
<p>“Jim’s a pretty common name,” Chloe said, “but we can work the Kayleigh angle. I’ll get the unis on to it right away. Would you know the men if you saw … I mean, if you came across them again?”</p>
<p>“I think so,” Matt said.</p>
<p>“Then tomorrow morning we’ll go for a drive around that general area,” Chloe decided, “and see what we can do. And hope that our perp doesn’t act again tonight. I’ll pick you up at the hotel, Matt.”</p>
<p>They hang up. Matt listens to the LA night, and catches no sound of the gang – they have vanished.</p>
<p>Lucifer passes him the bottle of Scotch, now half-empty. “Fancy a nightcap?”</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. Chapter 4</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>
  <i>At the bar Maze slid a tumbler of Cognac across to him and arched an eyebrow at his companion. </i>
</p><p> </p><p>  <i>“Matt Murdock, Maze; Maze, Matt Murdock,” Lucifer said. “She’s a demon, he’s a blind Catholic vigilante with enhanced senses, before you both ask.”</i></p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>I got stuck a bit and so this was a slow update, and the next one is likely to be slow too. I got more invested in interactions between characters and kind of forgot about the plot ...</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>They parked up in the Lux garage and Lucifer swept them past the lines at Lux, flashing a smile at the prettiest girls and indicating to the bouncers who should get priority entry. Matt had left the cap in the car and produced his shades from somewhere, and despite the big clunky boots on his feet managed to carry off a cool, hipsterish sort of vibe that, Lucifer noted, was attracting attention from some of the women.</p><p>At the bar Maze slid a tumbler of Cognac across to him and arched an eyebrow at his companion.</p><p>“Matt Murdock, Maze; Maze, Matt Murdock,” Lucifer said. “She’s a demon, he’s a blind Catholic vigilante with enhanced senses, before you both ask.”</p><p>“Catholic?” Maze said, with one of her sly grins.</p><p>“Demon?” Matt returned.</p><p>“Got a problem with that?” asked Maze.</p><p>“I might say the same to you,” Matt said, but Lucifer thought the bravado was at least half-acted. It was well-acted, though, and Maze plonked a glass on the bar.</p><p>“What’s your poison?” she said. “If you’re here with the boss, I’m not going to pick a fight.”</p><p>“Scotch,” said Matt, “thanks.”</p><p>“I wouldn’t pick a fight with Maze, if I were you,” Lucifer suggested, watching the expression on Matt’s face as he tasted the whisky. “I’d hate to see you lose.”</p><p>Matt tilted his head a little, the coloured lights of the dance floor reflecting off his red glasses. “You’ve barely seen me fight at all. Maybe I wouldn’t lose.”</p><p>“A fair point,” Lucifer said. He looked up at the stairs and, to his mild irritation, saw Amenadiel descending. His brother stopped for a moment, scanning the crowd, and then made his way straight over to the bar.</p><p>“Hello, Luci.”</p><p>“Brother,” Lucifer said. He glanced at Matt, who looked like he was listening intently to something. “My brother, Amenadiel,” he said.</p><p>Matt held out a hand, his expression studiously neutral. “Matt Murdock,” he said. “I, um, it’s a pleasure.”</p><p>Amenadiel shook hands. “And how do you know my brother, Mr Murdock?” he asked.</p><p>Lucifer saved Matt the trouble, and gave Amenadiel a speedy run-down.</p><p>“Luci, you have got to stop showing everyone who you are,” he said, wearily. “It’s not good for humanity to be exposed to the celestial. You know that.”</p><p>Matt broke in. “If it’s any help,” he said, “I haven’t seen anything.” He pushed his glasses on his nose more firmly. “Although I can tell you’re not human. But why have you two got different accents?”</p><p>“Why not?” Lucifer asked. “We may not look alike, nor sound alike, but unfortunately I can assure you we are still siblings.” He raised his glass ironically at Amenadiel. “Anyway, what brings you to Lux tonight, brother?”</p><p>“Linda told me to get out of the house and stop fussing over her,” Amenadiel said. “I am to be a father,” he added, for Matt’s benefit, “but I am told that I am not needed until the baby arrives.”</p><p>Matt blinked a little behind his glasses, but Lucifer was impressed to see his composure. “Congratulations,” he said.</p><p>“Thank you!” Amenadiel was positively glowing; Lucifer felt slightly nauseous over his brother’s good humour. He checked his watch, and downed his drink before picking up the refill Maze had ready.</p><p>“Duty calls,” he said. “Matt, do stay and amuse my brother.”</p><p>He made his way down to the piano, greeting customers as he went, and sat down at the instrument. The keys were smooth under his fingers, and he took a sip of Cognac, and started to play.</p><p>As usual he lost himself in the music, barely aware of the people around him listening, those dancing, those watching with desire clear on their faces, but when he eventually glanced up and around he saw that Matt and Amenadiel were still deep in conversation at the bar.</p><p>Lucifer played a couple more songs, and then ended the set, signalling to the DJ to start up the dance music. As the floor flooded with people he headed back to the bar – agreeing a couple of minor favours as he did so – and took the glass Patrick was offering gratefully. Maze seemed to have vanished again.</p><p>“But your argument is based on humanity not caring that your interventions are taking place without their knowledge,” Matt was saying, firmly, to Amenadiel. “And that somehow, we’re better off without making our own decisions.”</p><p>“About the big things,” Amenadiel said. “Of course you should have the say over the smaller matters.”</p><p>“Who decides what’s big and what’s small?” Matt returned. “Where were you all when New York was attacked? By aliens?”</p><p>Lucifer leaned on the bar, finding himself smiling. Amenadiel cast him an irritated glance.</p><p>“Which side are you on here, Luci?”</p><p>“What are the sides to be on?” Lucifer asked.</p><p>“Your brother and I have disagreed on how and when divine intervention is beneficial,” Matt said.</p><p>“Never,” Lucifer said, without hesitation. “But I did, after all, stake rather a lot on that belief rather a long time ago, and paid the price for it.”</p><p>“And you’ve told me on several occasions since that our Father must still have a plan for you,” Amenadiel objected.</p><p>Lucifer held out his hand and received another drink from Patrick. “An unfortunate belief that I have since disabused myself of. Free will, Matthew, that’s all that matters. You must make your own course in life.”</p><p>Nodding, Matt said, “yeah. I worked that out for myself, couple of years ago. With the help of some friends.” He drained what was left of his drink, and slid off the stool he was perched on. “I can’t wait to tell my mom about this evening,” he said. “Discussing theology with a couple of archangels. In a bar in LA. Thank you for the Scotch.”</p><p>He vanished into the crowds, navigating his way up the stairs and towards the exit before Lucifer had thought to ask if he knew the way. Watching Matt slip through the revellers like they weren’t there, Lucifer reflected that he had still only scratched the surface of the lawyer’s remarkable talents.</p><p>“His mom?” Amenadiel said.</p><p>“She’s a nun,” Lucifer replied, his glass halfway to his lips. “Quite the character.”</p><p>His brother gave him a hard look, and then shook his head and sighed. “Luci, one of these days everything is going to come unstuck.”</p><p>“Says the imminent father,” Lucifer retorted. He put his glass down on the bar. “Enjoy your evening, brother.”</p><p>* * *</p><p>By the morning there had been no positive hits yet on the identity of their possible perp. Ella was still working through the tattoos, but there were simply too many Jims in the wider LA area, and so far, no cross-reference with a Kayleigh.  </p><p>Chloe dropped Trixie at school and then drove to Matt’s hotel to pick him up. He was waiting outside, in suit and tie, holding his cane loosely. She was about to get out and get him as she pulled up, but he tilted his head and came straight to the car.</p><p>“Good morning,” he said. “May I?”</p><p>“Morning,” Chloe said. “Yeah, please, get in.”</p><p>Matt folded up the cane and got in the car.</p><p>“How was last night?” Chloe asked, starting the engine and heading out of the hotel parking lot.</p><p>His lips twitched. “Interesting,” he said.</p><p>“What did Lucifer do?” Chloe said, dreading the answer.</p><p>“Do?” Matt shrugged. “Nothing, really. We talked. He drank. After I called you, he took me to Lux and I met his brother.”</p><p>Chloe took an exit. “What did you make of Amenadiel?”</p><p>Fiddling with the cane on his lap, Matt said, “I’m not sure. He seemed … earnest. Very earnest. But I haven’t got a lot of experience with talking to angels, except, you know, in my head at church. It’s different when they’re in a nightclub next to you.”</p><p>“Amenadiel’s easier to have around than Lucifer, in some ways,” Chloe said. “Until I understood who – what – he was, I just thought it was a bit weird that Lucifer had a Black American brother, and didn’t get why he was so naïve about basic day-to-day stuff. Now I realise that he’s just spent so little time around people, he’s still learning.”</p><p>Matt nodded. “That makes sense. And Lucifer did a set, on the piano. He’s really good. And,” he turned his head in Chloe’s direction, “he had most of the women and a large number of the men in that place, well, turned on. The whole place was a mass of pheromones.”</p><p>Chloe kept her eyes on the road. “We once had a case – before I knew who Lucifer really is – where we had to interview a whole load of people he’d slept with. It was quite something.”</p><p>Adjusting his tie, Matt said, caution in his voice, as though he wasn’t entirely sure he should be commenting on it, “I’m pretty sure he didn’t even notice last night. But he notices you.”</p><p>There was silence. Chloe thought about what he’d said, and her own, complicated feelings about her partner. “Well,” she said, eventually, “we’ve worked together for a while now.”</p><p>Glancing sideways, she saw Matt had a slight smile on his face, and she cursed whatever he was reading off her and instead turned her attention to where they were. “Roll down your window,” she said, “we’re downtown. See if you can hear anything.”</p><p>They cruised the streets for a couple of hours, but even Matt’s senses failed to pick up anything helpful, and Chloe called it a day as lunchtime approached. He apologised, but Chloe shook her head.</p><p>“Hey, it was a long shot,” she said. “Want something to eat?”</p><p>“Sure,” Matt said, without much enthusiasm.</p><p>“What do you fancy?” Chloe asked.</p><p>“I have no idea,” he replied, and then flashed her a quick smile. “Sorry. I’m picky. Drives my best friend mad. If there’s a WholeFoods or something around here I can find something.”</p><p>Chloe consulted Google Maps, and found an organic supermarket on the way to the precinct. They were in the car eating the results of their foray inside when her phone rang; she put it on speaker.</p><p>“We found him,” Ella said, without preamble, and with a grin in her voice. “James Marshall. Pretty common kind of name, no wonder he was tough to pin down. Served six months five years ago for larceny and assault. His only daughter Kayleigh passed last year after a coke overdose after a party, they never found who supplied the drugs.”</p><p>“Got an address?” Chloe said.</p><p>“Still working on a current address, but we’ll have a full profile for you by the time you’re at the precinct,” Ella said.</p><p>She was as good as her word. There was a photograph and profile of Marshall on the evidence board, a list of his known associates, a photo of his late daughter. Chloe examined all of it closely. Matt had been right: their suspect had for many years been a member of a boxing club. She mentioned this, and he got his phone out and started talking to it to research the club. It was in the middle of reading out, in a slightly artificial voice, the ‘about us’ page when Matt paused it and turned his head towards the door.</p><p>“Lucifer’s here,” he said, and a moment later, Lucifer appeared.</p><p>“Detective!” the Devil exclaimed, evidently with pleasure. “Mr Murdock.”</p><p>“Hi,” Chloe greeted him. “You got my text.”</p><p>“I did indeed,” Lucifer said, perching on the conference table and digging his hipflask from his jacket pocket. “Shall we go and arrest the miscreant?”</p><p>Chloe folded her arms, studying the evidence board. “Problem is, we don’t have anything we can use right now. All we have is what Matt’s overheard, and it won’t stand up in court. Or even give us anything to get a warrant.”</p><p>“She’s right,” Matt agreed. “Trying to arrest him on this won’t stand up. Any half-decent attorney would get it thrown out in no time.” He put his phone in his pocket. “We need to catch him in the act, so to speak, or get DNA evidence linking him to the crimes.”</p><p>“Ella’s working on that,” Chloe said.</p><p>“What did you tell her about how we got the name in the first place?” Matt wanted to know.</p><p>Chloe shrugged. “I said you and Lucifer had overheard it. I can do being truthful without telling the whole truth too, you know.” She stared at the board. “I guess the boxing place is our next stop.”</p><p>Matt’s hand was light in Chloe’s elbow as they made their way into the boxing club. Lucifer flanked her other side, and she thought they must make an odd trio. The gym was fairly quiet, with a couple of guys sparring in the ring and another on one of the bags. She glanced at Matt; he had turned his head towards the ring and seemed to be listening critically to the action.</p><p>There was a little reception desk, and Chloe headed that way, Matt smoothly following her with his cane tapping lightly on the floor. He detached his hand from her arm as they came to a halt, and she dug out her badge and flashed it at the burly man behind the desk.</p><p>“Detective Decker, LAPD,” she said. “We’re hoping you can help us track down a James or Jim Marshall, who’s a member here?”</p><p>Her question was met with a look of suspicion. “He might be,” the man answered. “Why d’you want to know?”</p><p>“It’s in connection with the death of his daughter,” Chloe said, having already decided the boxing gym did not need to know that Marshall was wanted for murder. “Does he come here a lot?”</p><p>“Not as much as he used to,” the gym owner said, easing a bit.</p><p>“Seems like a nice place,” Matt put in, with a bit of a smile. He pushed his glasses up his nose, very much the unassuming blind man. It was convincing, Chloe had to give him that. “My dad boxed a bit,” he added. “Your place smells a bit like his gym used to.”</p><p>The gym owner relaxed a little more. “Yeah, there’s a certain atmosphere,” he said. “Your dad any good?”</p><p>“He was,” Matt said.</p><p>“Maybe I heard of him.”</p><p>“He fought as Battlin’ Jack Murdock,” Matt said. “But this was in New York, so maybe not. I’m just here consulting on this case.”  </p><p>The other man called over one of his staff, and told him to go through the membership database to find Marshall’s contact details. Chloe suppressed a smirk.</p><p>Matt, still in ‘harmless’ mode, said, “what’s Jim Marshall like?”</p><p>“Oh, he’s a decent heavyweight,” the gym owner said. “Would never make pro, but he’s won a few amateur bouts. Has a bad habit of telegraphing his moves.”</p><p>The staff member said, “here we go,” and scribbled down some details on a scrap of paper, passing them to Chloe.</p><p>“Thanks,” she said.</p><p>“If Jim comes in, what do I tell him?” the gym owner asked.</p><p>“Oh, don’t worry about that,” Chloe said. “It’s not too urgent, but kind of delicate, you know? Thanks so much for your help.”</p><p>She put the paper in her pocket, and they headed out.</p><p>In the car, Chloe turned round to look at Matt. “How much did you want to get in the ring with those guys back there?”</p><p>Matt shrugged. “It’s not like I’ve done much boxing in an actual ring, you know. I mean, a bit, but most people are too afraid of hurting the guy who can’t see. But it was useful. If Marshall does have a tell, he’ll be easy to beat.”</p><p>He seemed far too calm and confident, but Chloe supposed she had to trust him and his skillset. She dug the address out of her pocket, and looked at it. “Okay, now we’re getting somewhere.”</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0005"><h2>5. Chapter 5</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>
  <i>Matt was restless. They had spent altogether too much of the day sitting around – sitting in the precinct planning, and since then sitting in Chloe’s car a block away from Marshall’s house. He was missing the buzz of the Hell’s Kitchen streets and the familiar feeling of patrolling high above them. </i>
</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Hello! This took ages. I suddenly had tons of work and no time/energy to do any writing, but encouraged by the steady stream of kudos and comments trickling in I kept picking away at it and this evening realised I had enough to post another chapter. So here we go: a bit more action in this one. Enjoy.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Matt was restless. They had spent altogether too much of the day sitting around – sitting in the precinct planning, and since then sitting in Chloe’s car a block away from Marshall’s house. He was missing the buzz of the Hell’s Kitchen streets and the familiar feeling of patrolling high above them. And although it had been only a few days since he last put on the mask, he was itching to let out some of his energy. He put his hand in his pocket and twisted the familiar fabric in his fingers.</p>
<p>The radio crackled.</p>
<p>“Movement in the house,” the uniformed officer on the other end reported.</p>
<p>Matt let go of the mask and listened, but through the glass of the car windows and the distance from the house he couldn’t hear anything. He waited. In the front seat, Chloe seemed tense; Lucifer utterly relaxed, his fingers tapping out a tune idly on his leg. The radio crackled again.</p>
<p>“Suspect leaving the house,” it informed them. “Identified as James Marshall. He’s on foot.”</p>
<p>Matt grinned to himself. On foot was unexpected, but what he had hoped for – on foot, he could follow.</p>
<p>“You’ve got that radio?” Chloe checked.</p>
<p>Tapping his pocket, Matt nodded. “Yeah.”</p>
<p>“And you’ll use it?”</p>
<p>Matt flashed her a smile rather than answer, and hurried off in the direction of Marshall’s house. In his pocket, the radio told him that their target was heading west and Matt, who had at least managed to memorise the layout of the blocks immediately surrounding the house during the long afternoon, followed swiftly.</p>
<p>Marshall had a heavy, even gait and, Matt realised as he drew a little closer, a very slight arrythmia to his heartbeat that would be helpful to pick him out of a crowd. He was carrying a semi-automatic in a concealed holster, but the way the previous victims had died meant that Matt was expecting the gun to be used as a last resort. Marshall wanted hands-on revenge, and Matt knew he’d be lying to himself if he didn’t admit that he had an inkling of the other man’s desire to get his hands bloody.</p>
<p>He tracked Marshall at a distance of about a block. The man was walking briskly and with purpose and Matt had to keep his wits about him at crossings, and when Marshall stopped and started. After about 15 minutes, Marshall’s pace slowed, and then he was still. Matt pulled the earpiece from his pocket, slipped it in his ear, and said, “he’s stopped”.</p>
<p>“Can you get closer?” Chloe asked. “We’ve got your location, but not his.”</p>
<p>“I’ll try,” Matt said. “I’m not sure how much cover there is.”</p>
<p>He kept to the inside edge of the sidewalk, where he thought there would be more shadow from the buildings he was passing – the area was a mix of stores and residential – and paused when he could smell Marshall’s sweat and hear his breathing.</p>
<p>“Here,” he murmured, and once Chloe had acknowledged, he took the earpiece out again.</p>
<p>A car passed his spot, and Matt wondered if it was one of the unmarked police vehicles doing a sweep. Chloe had been nervous when they were talking about how to pin Marshall down for the murders; it was clear she was now at the edge of her tolerance on rule-bending, and despite Lucifer’s encouragement she had been reluctant to let Matt loose on his own, or even at all. He had promised not to get physically involved unless it would stop another death, which seemed to have reassured her.</p>
<p>He cast about for a spot that would conceal him better, and a moment later had pinpointed an alleyway opposite. Reaching it meant passing Marshall, but Matt took his phone out of his pocket, turned it on and made as though he was studying a text as he strolled on by and into the alleyway, where he found a spot next to a dumpster and leaned against the wall to wait for whatever would come.</p>
<p>Across the street, Marshall was doing the same. He lit a cigarette, checked his phone, paced a bit. Matt, in his alley, put on his mask and quietly stretched. It was good to be on the streets, in the dark, alone, even if the streets were not his own and Chloe Decker was a button-tap away in his pocket.</p>
<p>Time ticked away. Matt listened to Marshall, and to the sound of televisions in the apartments above his head, and the rats scrabbling at the back of the alley. A few cars passed on the street, but traffic was quiet.</p>
<p>He checked his watch: 11:43. It was, of course, entirely possible that whatever, or whoever, Marshall was waiting for would not show this evening, but it was worth sitting it out for a bit longer. The radio buzzed in his pocket, and he slipped the earpiece back in his ear.</p>
<p>“Just checking in,” said Chloe. “All good?”</p>
<p>“All good,” Matt said, softly.</p>
<p>“Okay,” Chloe said. “Well, you know where we are.”</p>
<p>Matt took the earpiece out again.</p>
<p>Across the street, Marshall had another cigarette, shifted his feet, yawned. Matt wondered if the night was to end with no action of any kind – if, indeed, they were going to be able to bring their suspect to justice before he had to get back to New York.</p>
<p>A door halfway down the block opened, and Marshall’s demeanour changed, his heartrate picking up a few beats. Matt edged to the end of his alley and focused on the man who had emerged from the building; after a few seconds, he thought that he’d recognised one of the group who had met in the bar the previous night. He was alone, but armed, and he set off briskly down the street. Marshall, opposite, moved too, in parallel. Matt gave them a few seconds’ head-start and followed.</p>
<p>The man they were following did not seem to realise he was being pursued. He went into a grocery store and came out with a pack of beer and some chips. A few more blocks along there was a small park, with a bit of grass and a bench and a tree, and he sat down on the bench with a deep sigh, popped a can and opened the chips.</p>
<p>Marshall hesitated only a moment before breaking his cover and moving in. The intended victim dropped his beer and scrabbled for his gun, but Marshall had the element of surprise and momentum, and his first punches landed hard and accurate on the other man’s head.</p>
<p>Matt grinned to himself, and joined the fight. He took advantage of the victim slumping backwards and Marshall pausing his punches for a split second to move in with a high kick, spinning Marshall away from the other man and turning his attention to Matt.</p>
<p>This was what Matt wanted, and he ducked a wild punch from Marshall and danced backwards from the unconscious – but breathing – body of the first man to give himself space.</p>
<p>“Who the fuck are you?” Marshall said, swinging his fist at Matt’s shoulder. Matt just grinned at him and delivered a rather more accurate uppercut. It felt good to be moving, good to feel the give of flesh under his hands. Marshall was, as advertised, telegraphing his moves, and was really no opponent, and Matt knew he should have shut the fight down already. But he was enjoying himself, and he added an unnecessary flip kick just because he could.</p>
<p>Marshall stumbled and backed off, and it was as Matt was waiting for the next attack that he heard the click of a safety coming off and two new heartbeats, racing, and approaching. As the gun fired, Matt threw himself at Marshall.</p>
<p>* * *</p>
<p>Lucifer leaned on the hood of the Detective’s car and lit a cigarette. It had been a long, slow night; once Matt had slipped off into the dark they’d heard little from him. The Detective had spent a while worrying about this, but Lucifer reminded her that Matt had spent several years Daredeviling in Hell’s Kitchen.</p>
<p>“I assure you, Detective, he’s quite capable of looking after himself,” he said.</p>
<p>Still, Chloe made sure to check in on Matt a couple of times, and it was soon after the second time, shortly before midnight, that his tracker shifted quickly.</p>
<p>“Lucifer!” she said.</p>
<p>He dropped the cigarette and ground it out under the heel of his shoe before getting in the car. Chloe started the engine and drove for a couple of minutes, coming to a halt a block away from where Matt’s tracker showed him to be.</p>
<p>They got out of the car again and the Detective drew her gun, gesturing to Lucifer to follow her.</p>
<p>Rounding a corner, Lucifer saw a small cleared area. A figure was collapsed unmoving on a bench, and close by there were four figures engaged in a confused, scrappy combat.</p>
<p>He reassessed that opinion. Three figures were in scrappy combat; the fourth was fluid and loose and brutal, lithe in black.</p>
<p>“Crap,” Chloe muttered, beside him. “Can’t get a clear shot on any of them.”</p>
<p>“I don’t think you’ll need to shoot,” Lucifer said, as one of the men went down and stayed down, felled by a kick from Matt, who followed through with a backflip and landed on his feet. Chloe raised her gun again, but Lucifer put a hand on her arm. “Just let him handle it, Detective,” he said.</p>
<p>The three men standing circled each other. Matt’s stance was relaxed – it was clear he was confident he’d won the fight. The attention of the other two was divided, between each other and their mutual opponent, and Matt used this to his advantage. He moved quick enough that even Lucifer’s night vision struggled to grasp it, knocking the larger of the other two out first before turning to the second. There was a brief scuffle and then Matt was kneeling on the chest of his victim and calling over to them.</p>
<p>“Detective? You need an ambulance for the guy on the bench.”</p>
<p>The Detective holstered her pistol and took out her radio, calling for backup and the EMTs.</p>
<p>“Cuffs?” said Matt, as she and Lucifer got closer. The Detective pulled hers from her belt and, after a second, threw them across to him. Matt picked them neatly from the air, took his knee off the chest of the man on the ground, flipped him, and cuffed him, all in one quick movement. He stood up and retreated.</p>
<p>“I should probably go,” he said, voice pitched low so the man on the ground, who was curled up in pain, couldn’t hear him.</p>
<p>Chloe looked around at the general carnage. “Yeah,” she said. “I’ll, um, I’ll think of something. Lucifer, could you maybe show Matt where the car is?” She gave him her keys. He gave them back.</p>
<p>“We’ll head back to Matt’s hotel so he can change,” he said. “Get a cab, or something.”</p>
<p>Matt tensed. “The other cops are nearly here,” he said.</p>
<p>“Go!” the Detective said. “And Matt – thanks.”</p>
<p>Lucifer turned and led the way out of the park, walking briskly with Matt taking quicker steps by his side. “I get the sense you want to be out of here,” he said to the other man.</p>
<p>“I don’t tend to hang around for the cops, when I’m in the mask,” Matt acknowledged. He put his hand to his head, and pulled off the fabric, leaving his hair ruffled. It transformed him from a somewhat sinister figure to a far more normal-looking one. “So, are there many cabs around here?”</p>
<p>Checking Uber on his phone, Lucifer discovered there were not. “No,” he said. “A rather distressing lack of them, actually. We could wait by the Detective’s car.”</p>
<p>Matt grimaced. “Damn. I’m too used to getting everywhere on foot, but I don’t know this area well enough and I suspect you don’t know it either.”</p>
<p>“This is LA,” Lucifer said. “Nobody walks.” He looked around. Apart from the scream of sirens heading towards the park, the neighbourhood was dead.</p>
<p>And then he had a wild idea: wild for several reasons. “I could get us back to Lux very quickly,” he said. “If you feel like trusting me.”</p>
<p>“Ha,” Matt said. “I flew to LA on your request. You know that was a big deal, right?”</p>
<p>Lucifer inclined his head. “Of course.” He glanced around him. “Are we alone?”</p>
<p>Matt did the head-tilt thing, and nodded. “Yeah.”</p>
<p>“I promise I won’t drop you,” Lucifer said, and before Matt could react, he’d unfurled his wings and grasped the vigilante under his arms.</p>
<p>It turned out Matt was heavier than he looked, and Lucifer was glad, five minutes later, to deposit his burden safely on the penthouse balcony. He shrugged away his wings and adjusted his cuffs, and checked on Matt.</p>
<p>He was crouched down, one hand on the balcony floor, breathing a little hard, but as Lucifer turned towards him he stood up and slowly unclenched his fists. “You should have warned me about that,” he said, his voice raspier and tenser than normal.</p>
<p>Lucifer, satisfied he hadn’t accidentally done any harm to the other man, headed towards the bar. “I thought you might have said no,” he observed. “Drink?”</p>
<p>Hovering just by the windows, Matt hesitated, and then nodded. “All right.” He accepted the glass and took a healthy swallow. “I don’t understand how other people – normal people – accept you as a person,” he said, still radiating tension.</p>
<p>“I didn’t realise being the Devil made me not a person,” Lucifer said, surprised to find Matt’s observation stung him a little. “But – I have noticed humans have a tendency to see what they want to see, and not look too closely when things are, well, odd.”</p>
<p>“Maybe it’s because I can’t see, then,” Matt said. “Nevertheless, whoever you are, you’re here, on Earth, living our ways. It would have been decent to at least tell me you planned to <em>fly</em> us back here.”</p>
<p>“Would you rather have waited for an Uber?” enquired Lucifer, refilling both their glasses.</p>
<p>Matt rolled his eyes, and shook his head. “No, I guess not.”</p>
<p>“Well then.” Lucifer shrugged off his jacket, and sat down at the piano, picking out the treble line of a sonata idly with his right hand.</p>
<p>Finishing his drink, Matt put the empty glass down firmly on the piano lid. “I’m going to change. I suspect Detective Decker will be calling soon, and if we’re to go back to the precinct I want to do it in a suit.”</p>
<p>“If she calls me, I’ll let you know before I pick you up. In the car,” Lucifer said.</p>
<p>“It’s appreciated,” Matt said.</p>
<p>Alone, Lucifer drained his glass and put both hands to the keys, losing himself in the music, and deliberately not thinking about what Matt Murdock had said.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0006"><h2>6. Chapter 6</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>
  <i>It seemed to take a long time to clear the scene, and it was coming up for three in the morning when forensics had finished searching for scraps of evidence, all their suspects were in hospital or in custody, and Chloe was finally able to get in the car and head to the precinct. She wanted to sleep, but she also wanted to interview the men in a fit state to be interviewed.</i>
</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>A talky chapter. </p>
<p>A few people made comments along the lines of "Matt!!!" after the last chapter, and in this one I endeavour to explain a little why he said what he said to Lucifer in chapter 5. Hopefully this rings true.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>It seemed to take a long time to clear the scene, and it was coming up for three in the morning when forensics had finished searching for scraps of evidence, all their suspects were in hospital or in custody, and Chloe was finally able to get in the car and head to the precinct. She wanted to sleep, but she also wanted to interview the men in a fit state to be interviewed. Marshall, and one of the others, had been beaten up but conscious when taken away; Marshall’s initial victim and the other who had intervened were not.</p>
<p>Even used as she was to violence, Chloe’s insides had twisted a little when she’d seen the injuries which Matt Murdock had inflicted, apparently without suffering any serious harm himself. Her assessment of the lawyer had shifted again when she’d finally seen him fight and she had understood, a little more, what made Daredevil such a name to be reckoned with back in New York.</p>
<p>She called Lucifer on the way to the precinct, knowing he’d be awake – Lux, after all, stayed open until nearly dawn. He promised to join her, Murdock in tow, as soon as he could.</p>
<p>At the precinct Chloe fuelled up on coffee and checked where her suspects were. Marshall had been put in a cell, and the other man was waiting in the interview room. Gathering together her papers and a notebook, she prepared to go in and start the questioning, but Lucifer and Matt turned up as she was about to go in.</p>
<p>“Detective,” Lucifer said, with one of his warm smiles. “Are we ready to question the miscreants?”</p>
<p>Chloe nodded, but turned to Matt. “Thanks,” she said. “And sorry for dragging you out again.”</p>
<p>He shrugged. “Not the first time I’ve pulled an all-nighter. I guess I’ll have to listen in from the observation room, right?”</p>
<p>“I’m afraid so. If nothing else, they might recognise you,” Chloe said, but doubted this as she looked at him. There was little trace of Daredevil in the blind lawyer in the cheap suit in front of her.</p>
<p>“It’s just a one-way mirror in there, right?” Matt asked. “I’ll be able to hear what’s going on just fine.” He flashed her a quick smile.</p>
<p>Chloe showed him the observation room, and then, followed by Lucifer, went into the interview room next door.</p>
<p>“Martin Walther, is it?” she asked, sliding into one of the seats. “I’m Detective Decker. This is my partner, Mr Morningstar. You were arrested for assaulting a James Marshall, who is a suspect in a series of homicides I’m investigating.”</p>
<p>Walther, slumped in his chair, said, “yeah, he killed two of my friends.”</p>
<p>“Do you have evidence of this allegation?” Chloe asked.</p>
<p>Walther started talking, and as he talked Chloe took notes. Everything corroborated exactly with what Matt had told her he’d heard in the bar. Lucifer leaned against the wall and listened, without, for once, getting involved.</p>
<p>“How did you come to be on the scene tonight?” Chloe asked.</p>
<p>“Me and a couple of the guys were staying in Charlie’s place, just lying low a few nights,” Walther said. “Gonzalo, he got fed up with sitting around, said he was going out. Charlie reckoned he saw Marshall follow Gonzalo down the street and, I dunno, we decided to see if he was right.” He picked at his fingernails. “They going to be okay, Detective?”</p>
<p>“They’re in the hospital,” Chloe said. “I haven’t got any more information at this time. What happened when you reached the park?”</p>
<p>“We drew our guns,” Marshall said, “but there was another guy already there. Some freak in black. He got in our way, but man, he was fast. I didn’t know whether to try and take him out or take Marshall out and neither did Charlie.”</p>
<p>“It looked rather like he took all of you out,” observed Lucifer, with a smile.</p>
<p>“Yeah, well,” Walther said. “It kinda sounded like he knew you, when you arrived, Detective, from what I remember.”</p>
<p>Chloe glanced quickly at Lucifer, and then back at her suspect.</p>
<p>“I have no idea who he was,” Chloe said. “I guess he saw my badge. Mr Morningstar tried to stop him but was unable to apprehend him. Do you have a description?”</p>
<p>Walther shook his head. “Guy in black in a mask,” he said. “Like one of them vigilantes you read about in New York. Crazy, right?”</p>
<p>Focusing on her notebook, Chloe scribbled down ‘no description of unknown assailant’ and wondered what Matt’s expression looked like at this minute.</p>
<p>“That’s all I have to ask you at this moment, Mr Walther,” she said. “You understand you’re facing charges of assault and of carrying and using a firearm?”</p>
<p>“If it puts Jim Marshall away,” Walther said, “I don’t care.”</p>
<p>Chloe found a uni and directed the officer to take Walther back to the cells before heading into the observation room, where Matt was perched on the edge of a table. “Well?” she said.</p>
<p>“As far as I could tell, he’s telling the truth,” Matt said, with a shrug. “The mirror dulled the sound a bit, but it seemed like he was pretty calm. Like he’s glad to be here, almost. He’ll go for some kind of plea deal to get off the assault charges, I’d guess.”</p>
<p>“It’s Marshall we’re after,” Chloe said, “and I think he gave us enough on that. Stay here, I’ll get him brought up.”</p>
<p>She left Matt with Lucifer in the observation room, and, yawning a bit, found a uni and asked him to bring Marshall up from the cells. A short while later, Marshall, sporting a spectacular black eye and several other cuts and bruises, was taken into the interview room.</p>
<p>Chloe took her seat opposite, Lucifer, this time, choosing to sit with her. She spent a moment organising her notebook and taking the opportunity to study her suspect. He looked tired, but fairly alert given his injuries, and scowled at her.</p>
<p>“James Marshall,” she said, “you’re here accused of five murders, and one attempted murder. Want to tell me why you killed five men?”</p>
<p>He met her eyes, and shrugged.</p>
<p>“For the record,” Chloe said, mostly for Matt’s benefit, “Mr Marshall has shrugged. You’ve been careful so far,” she said, “but tonight you slipped up. We’ve got the DNA from your intended victim tonight, Gonzalo Corrales, from the gloves you were wearing, and another witness placing you at the scene who also claims you were acquainted with all the previous victims, and had a grudge against them.”</p>
<p>“Not a crime knowing people,” Marshall said.</p>
<p>“Strangling them to death is,” Chloe returned. She looked at Lucifer, who inclined his head, stood up, straightened his cuffs and leaned in.</p>
<p>“Tell me,” he said, his voice deepening, seductive and tempting, “why did you want to kill all those men?”</p>
<p>There was the usual moment of tension in the room and Marshall crumpled. “Because they killed my Kayleigh,” he said, cracking. “Why should they live when she died?”</p>
<p>Lucifer sat back. Chloe dug out a tissue and passed it across the table. “What happened to Kayleigh?” she asked. “She was your daughter, right?”</p>
<p>Marshall nodded. “She was 17,” he said, crumpling the tissue in a fist. “She got addicted to drugs – to coke – sold by that gang. They encouraged her to take them.”</p>
<p>“Revenge won’t bring her back,” said Chloe, gently. She thought of losing Trixie, and wondered how she would react.</p>
<p>“Did it make you feel better, punishing them?” Lucifer asked, softly, something dark in his tone.</p>
<p>Looking across the table at her partner, Marshall’s eyes were desolate.</p>
<p>“No,” he admitted, and closed them.</p>
<p>Chloe wrapped it up. She had her confession, and it was four o’clock. She had Marshall taken back to the cells, signed the paperwork that was urgent, and went to find Matt and Lucifer. They were in the conference room, Lucifer with his hipflask out, Matt idly rubbing bruised knuckles.</p>
<p>“We’re done,” Chloe said.</p>
<p>“Well <em>done</em>, Detective,” said Lucifer, slipping the hipflask away.</p>
<p>Chloe folded her arms. “On this occasion, I think thanks go to the two of you. You for bringing Matt in, and Matt for … well, doing his thing.”</p>
<p>Matt gave her one of his rare proper smiles, wide and warm under the red glasses. “Thanks for letting me out there tonight.”</p>
<p>“I got to admit,” Chloe said, “it was pretty impressive. Anyway, we’re all wrapped up, so we can all go home and get some sleep.” She yawned deeply.</p>
<p>“I’ll drive you both,” Lucifer said, and when she tried protesting, he put his hand gently on her shoulder and said, “I’m insisting, Detective. You’ve had a busy day. Leave your horrible car here and I will pick you up for work in the morning.”</p>
<p>“It already is the morning,” Chloe pointed out, too tired to argue with him.</p>
<p>She dozed in the car, waking up properly only when Lucifer pulled up outside her apartment building.</p>
<p>“Home sweet home,” said Lucifer, as she stretched and then climbed out. Matt, who was in the back of the Corvette, got out too, swinging himself easily over the closed door.</p>
<p>“Don’t get out,” Chloe said, too late.</p>
<p>“I wanted to say a proper goodbye,” he replied, adjusting his glasses. “I need to get back home tomorrow – we’ve got cases, a deposition, and the Kitchen needs me. Or, perhaps, I need the Kitchen.” He held out a hand. “Thank you, Chloe.”</p>
<p>She took his hand and shook it. “I should be thanking you,” she said. “You really helped crack this one.”</p>
<p>Matt shrugged. “You’d have got there eventually, I’m sure. But yeah, glad I could help.” He half-turned his head back towards the car, where Lucifer was tapping his fingers on the steering wheel. “Tell him, sometime,” he said, softly, “how you feel.”</p>
<p>Chloe dug in her pockets for her door keys. “He’s my partner,” she insisted. Matt gave her a brief, half-smile.</p>
<p>“Yeah. Well, goodbye, Chloe, and call if you’re ever back on the East Coast. Or if you need someone to hit someone.”</p>
<p>She watched him get back in the car, and as the Corvette sped off turned and made her way thoughtfully into her apartment.</p>
<p>* * *</p>
<p>Lucifer was waiting for Matt outside the hotel at noon the next day, having arranged a jet for the early afternoon. Matt had managed to get a few hours’ sleep, conscious that he would not sleep well on the flight if at all.</p>
<p>The roof was down on the car, and Matt sat back and enjoyed the feel of the sun on his face and the wind in his hair. Neither of them spoke as Lucifer whipped the car through the traffic and to the airport, where he pulled up on the tarmac next to the plane. The smell of diesel was strong, and Matt wrinkled his nose as he got out of the car.</p>
<p>“Well, here we are,” Lucifer said, his tone light.</p>
<p>Matt turned to face him, tuning in on the presence before him: the scent of cologne, the slight tang of cigarettes and whiskey, the fabric of his clothes, the steady, slow, inhuman beat of his heart.</p>
<p>“I need to apologise,” he said.</p>
<p>Lucifer stiffened, minutely – Matt wasn’t sure that anyone other than himself would have noticed.</p>
<p>“For what?” Lucifer asked.</p>
<p>“For suggesting you were not a person,” Matt said. “You caught me off-guard. I don’t get startled or surprised often, and the thing with the wings, and the flight, that surprised me.” He took a deep breath. “You know I’m Catholic, you know I was brought up in a church orphanage, you know my mother’s a nun. I spent my whole life being told that the Devil was – that <em>you </em>are – the embodiment of evil. The version of you depicted in the Bible was used as a threat; by my grandmother, by the nuns at the orphanage.”</p>
<p>Lucifer said nothing, and Matt, feeling his fingers curl into his fist, carried on.</p>
<p>“I’ve struggled with reconciling my faith with what I do in the mask, and the first time we met you said it’s our own guilt that sends us to Hell. I can justify being Daredevil, but I do feel guilt for pain or hurt I cause while doing it. I know that’s up to me to fix,” he added, hearing an indrawn breath from Lucifer that suggested he was about to interject. “It’s not your fault. But the fact of you, being here, drives it home that little bit more.”</p>
<p>“I suppose that may be true,” Lucifer conceded.</p>
<p>“You’re not human,” Matt said. “Every sense I have told me that the moment you found me on the roof in Hell’s Kitchen. But,” he continued, reaching up and taking off his shades in an effort to show Lucifer he meant what he was saying, “I shouldn’t have said you weren’t a person. Anyone who cares about others as much as I think you do is most certainly a person.”</p>
<p>He slipped the shades back on, and waited.</p>
<p>“Quite the speech,” said Lucifer, after a heavy, long moment in which Matt counted 10 beats of his heart. “You must be a good lawyer.”</p>
<p>Matt smiled. “I’ve learned the power of words over the years, it’s true. But I meant it, and I am sorry if what I said pained you.”</p>
<p>After another pause, Lucifer said, “and I accept your apology. You owe me nothing, and I owe you nothing. I don’t want to feel as though there is obligation between us.”</p>
<p>It was a very formal statement, and Matt took it seriously. He found he was glad it had been said – it lifted some weight off his shoulders. Person or not, he still had no desire to get on the wrong side of Lucifer Morningstar.</p>
<p>“Thank you,” he said.</p>
<p>“No, thank you for coming,” Lucifer said, the formality gone. “The Detective and I are <em>exceptionally</em> good at cracking cases, but I think your extra help was useful.” He held out a hand. “Have a safe flight.”</p>
<p>Matt took the hand: smooth skin, long pianist’s fingers, cool and with a latent strength in them. He grimaced. “I’d successfully not been thinking about the flight,” he said.</p>
<p>“Drink lots,” Lucifer suggested. “It’s what I’d do.”</p>
<p>The attendant – the same one as on the flight out, it appeared – came up by Matt’s elbow and picked up his bag. “We’re cleared for departure, Mr Morningstar,” she said. “Mr Murdock?”</p>
<p>Matt flicked out his cane and followed her up the steps. At the top he paused and raised a hand.</p>
<p>“Safe flight,” Lucifer said, from the tarmac. Matt smiled to himself, and boarded the plane; the roar of the Corvette’s engine was the last thing he heard as the attendant closed the door behind him.</p>
<p>The flight back to New York was much the same as the flight out. Matt spent most of it with the allegedly noise-cancelling headphones on, picking at the bland food offered, and pacing the gangway. He found himself offering up a short prayer as they landed, and then he remembered who he’d spent most of the last few days with, and reflected that at least the prayer had some chance of being heard.</p>
<p>It was past one in the morning, New York time, when the limousine dropped Matt outside his apartment, and he knew he should be trying to get some sleep. But he was still on edge from the flight and making the decision to take off his business suit and pull on the mask was not really a decision that took any time at all.</p>
<p>He wrapped his hands quickly and headed out through the roof exit, pausing on the edge of the roof to breathe in the sounds and smells of New York around him. His downstairs neighbour with insomnia was listening to a podcast, the all-night takeout place down the street was doing its usual steady trade, and three blocks away, a bodega was being robbed.</p>
<p>Matt grinned to himself under the mask, felt his fists clench, and leaped. It was good to be home.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Fin.</p>
<p>Thank you to everyone who has read, subscribed, or left comments or kudos on the latest in this crazy crossover mash-up. I enjoyed writing it, although it ended up somewhat longer and more convoluted than I thought it would.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
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